After wine, I go out into the fields,
wander open country—singing,
asking myself how green grass
could be a white-haired old man.
But looking into a bright mirror,
I see him in my failing hair too.
Blossom scent seems to scold me.
I let grief go, and face east winds.
translated by David Hinton
Through the Yang-tsze Gorges by Li Po
From the walls of Po-ti high in the coloured dawn
To Kiang-ling by night-fall is three hundred miles,
Yet monkeys are still calling on both banks behind me
To my boat these ten thousand mountains away.
Translated by Witter Bynner & Kiang Kang-hu
Southside Johnny Lyon quote: for Kevin, Vic, and Joey
You can’t walk away
without getting scarred.
for the boys upstate and some others lost along the way
6am, Moda: my daily walk
a man on a bench
sleeping off
the night before
cigarette smoke and beer
permeates the air
as I pass
dogs being walked
all sizes and breeds
marking territory
their owners half asleep
hair jutting out of baseball caps
cats asleep on seats of motorcycles
or staring from car hoods
or window sills
as I trudge downhill
then back up
a cup of Americano
with milk
and a sandwich
of cheese, meat, tomato
to take home
breakfast
this daily walk
to start my day
At Scholar Tuan Chiu’s Place Reading Lines in a Letter from Our Deceased Friend, Lu of Hengchou by Liu Tsung-yüan
My friendship with Lu was the dearest of my life
when he arrived in Hengyang his body multiplied
suddenly from your sleeve some lines of his appeared
seeing my old friend I had to wipe the tears
translated by Red Pine
The Hat Given to the Poet by Li Chen by Po Chü-i
Long ago a white-haired gentleman
You made the present of a black gauze hat.
The gauze hat still sits on my head;
But you already are gone to the Nether Springs.
The thing is old, but still fit to wear;
The man is gone and will never be seen again.
Out on the hill the moon is shining to-night
And the trees on your tomb are swayed by the autumn wind.
translated by Arthur Waley
Oaths of Friendship by anonymous poets of Yüeh
1
If you were riding in a coach
And I were wearing a “li”*
And one day we met in the road,
You would get down and bow.
If you were carrying a “teng,”**
And I were riding on a horse,
And one day we met in the road
I would get down for you.
2
SHANG YA!
I want to be your friend
For ever and ever without break or decay.
When the hills are all flat
And the rivers are all dry,
When it lightens and thunders in winter,
When it rains and snows in summer,
When Heaven and Earth mingle—
Not till then will I part from you.
translated by Arthur Waley
*a peasant’s straw coat
**an umbrella under which wares are sold
River-Snow by Liu Tsung-yüan
A hundred mountains and no bird,
A thousand paths without a footprint;
A little boat, a bamboo cloak,
An old man fishing in the cold river-snow.
translated by Witter Bynner & Kiang Kang-hu
Written at the First Sign of White Hair about the Pomegranate I Planted by Liu Tsung-yüan
It’s been a few years since I planted this sweet thing
my cheeks aren’t the same as its blooms anymore
henceforth I won’t speak of spring anymore
looking at this old bush then this old man
translated by Red Pine
Leonard Durso 